Chirac feels the heat as his former protege goes on the offensive

The French president is having to rally support to thwart Nicolas Sarkozy, but some believe his finance minister is the only man who can save the Gaullists

The French finance minister, Nicolas Sarkozy, threw down the political gauntlet to Jacques Chirac last week. In the race to become the country's next president he invited more than 200 MPs from Mr Chirac's Gaullist UMP to a lavish lunch.

According to Mr Sarkozy, known as "Super Sarko", the MPs had been asked to discuss controversial proposals to open France's energy industry to private investment. That the lunch quickly became the hottest ticket in town, however, suggested a different agenda.

MPs believed that they would witness a blatant bid by the minister to curry support before a key vote in November on who will become the next UMP leader - a stepping stone to the Elysee Palace.

One MP is said to have flown back from a holiday in the Caribbean to attend the event, held in the Finance Ministry overlooking the Seine, while others made last-minute pleas for an invitation.

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Although President Chirac has been rallying his supporters to thwart Mr Sarkozy, there is a growing feeling that the 49-year-old finance minister is the only man to save the party. The clamour to attend his lunch came after the UMP's disastrous showing in last weekend's European elections, in which it gained less than 17 per cent of the vote.

Mr Sarkozy, who is said to be an admirer of Gordon Brown, has been likened to Tony Blair because of his ambition, penchant for spin, and meticulous attention to his image. During a 45-minute speech to his guests, Mr Sarkozy hinted at his intentions to run as party leader, responding to a campaign by Mr Chirac's supporters to dissuade him.

"I am not going to sit by the side of the river and watch my friends drown," he said. "I will help them. I am against the idea of shutting up in the name of [party] unity. Silence belongs to the cemetery.

"We need a confrontation of ideas and a healthy rivalry between men and women. I don't know what decision I will take, but I will take it freely. I am too old to be afraid."

Until now, Mr Sarkozy - Mr Chirac's former political protege - has been coy about his presidential ambitions, although tensions between the men have been apparent for some time.

The rift between Mr Chirac and Mr Sarkozy - once regarded as his "political son" - goes back to the early 1990s when Mr Sarkozy backed Edouard Balladur, then Prime Minister, in the 1995 presidential election. Mr Chirac felt betrayed.

His wife, Bernadette, and daughter Claude - with whom Mr Sarkozy was rumoured to have been romantically involved in the 1980s - felt let down by a man who had been part of the family.

Earlier this year, when Mr Chirac, 71, let it be known that he may seek a third term as president when his current five-year term ends in 2007, Mr Sarkozy declared: "In politics, you have to know when it is time to give up your place."

Mr Chirac's supporters have made it clear that Mr Sarkozy might be forced to give up his ministerial job if he wins the November vote, although there is no rule saying that he cannot carry out both roles. No one has suggested that Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin - another leadership contender - would have to resign from the government if he won.

The suggestion, made in the Right-wing Figaro newspaper, infuriated Mr Sarkozy. "I am popular with party activists," he said. "Is it reasonable that I shouldn't be considered? Am I the only one who hasn't the right to be a candidate?"

Mr Sarkozy won huge popular support for his tough stance on crime as interior minister. The small but energetic minister, who is teetotal and jogs every morning, gave the police new powers, cracked down on prostitution, and closed the Sangatte refugee camp outside Calais.

In March, however, in a reshuffle overseen by Mr Chirac, Mr Sarkozy was moved to the Finance Ministry and given the thankless and seemingly impossible task of reviving the economy and cutting public spending. Instead of sinking, however, as the president allegedly hoped, Mr Sarkozy appears to be rising to the job.

Mr Sarkozy does not need the support of a political party to present himself as a presidential candidate but it would greatly increase his chances to have the UMP's logistical and financial support.

If both Chirac and Sarkozy stand, as members of the same party, this would split the Right - but because the Presidential election is a two-round contest, it is still possible that one could win.

With three years to go before the presidential vote, "Sarko" may have shown his hand too soon. Officials believe, however, that he has become too popular for Mr Chirac to fire and would probably be more dangerous outside the government than within it.